The countdown to next month’s official Switch 2 Direct is officially on – only 8 more days folks! But some details are emerging today from what appear to be sources very close to the launch of Switch 2 with details on the release date for the console, and perhaps even more interesting, a 3-stage release plan for the Switch 2 launch games.
According to a report from Insider Gaming, which claims to have pulled some official data on the release of Switch 2 and the launch games from various inside sources at GDC, Nintendo Switch 2 will indeed be releasing in June, just as we, and several industry experts, suggested previously.
But perhaps the more interesting potential development here, or just something we haven’t already heard before, is what the report calls a 3-phase release strategy for the Switch 2 launch (window) games.
The short-form takeaway is that Switch 2 will release with mainly all first-party games at launch, followed by third-parties and a slew of holiday releases after that.
The second phase starts in October and November and is said to include a series of titles from third-party studios. The report also says that these third-party studios were expecting to receive dev kits for the Switch 2 in June – seems awfully late to me, but I’m no game developer.
There are no specifics on which third-party studios these might be…we can’t possibly be talking about the basically in-house third parties like Retro Studios (the Metroid Prime 4: Beyond dev) and Game Freak (the Pokemon squad) can we?
It would seem that, based on previous leaks and details, we might be talking about the series of Xbox titles that are rumored to be hitting the Switch 2 and perhaps even the folks behind the Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater remake, but it is unclear at this point in time.
The third phase of the Switch 2 game releases is equally as elusive – there are no specifics in the report outside of the timing here. First phase at launch, second phase starting in October, and a third phase for the holidays (presumably November and December).
Either way, I think most gamers might have been able to guess Nintendo would run a Switch 2 game release strategy along these lines – it just has to have some big first-party games ready for the launch day/window, and one would expect the big third parties would be next up in the months following right before Nintendo’s plans for a big holiday game launch on its shiny new next-generation console.
Dive into our ongoing Countdown to Switch 2 Direct features below:
Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Countdown [T-8 Days]: Let’s unbox the new OLED Mario Wonder bundle so I can have the Switch 2 all to myself
Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Countdown [T-9 Days]: ‘Switch 2 Enhanced’ games, AI tech, specs, mouse mode, more
Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Countdown [T-10 Days]: Pre-order dates, times, and more
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